O'Brien hoping for Lucky debut
Flemington trainer Danny O’Brien is set to unleash two-year-old debutant Lucky Generation in the $80,000 ALH Group Plate (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
A son of former Hong Kong champion Lucky Owners, Lucky Generation was an impressive winner of his latest 800m jumpout at Flemington in 50.58 seconds; jumping well to sit outside the leaders before extending to the line to record an impressive five length victory.
It was an effort that impressed O’Brien enough to debut his promising colt in smart company this weekend.
“He’s a two-year-old that has always shown a good amount of ability,” O’Brien told RSN’s Racing Ahead this morning.
“Everyone that’s been on him has said that he gives them him a nice feel; we’re expecting him to go there and give a good account of himself.
“There’s certainly a couple of two-year-olds that have had a few runs and look reasonably smart in the race, so we’ll get a good measuring stick of where he’s at (after Saturday’s race).”
James Winks has secured the ride aboard Lucky Generation, and will jump from barrier 5 in Saturday’s opening event.
“I’d imagine that he’ll be off the speed a little,” O’Brien said.
“He really hasn’t been given a real bang up in his jump outs to show real early pace, so I’d imagine under race day conditions he’ll probably settle midfield or just beyond that, and obviously we’ll get a good look at him and see what he can do in the finish.”
Another interesting O’Brien runner on Saturday is last-start Sandown Hillside placegetter Tear Gas, who is currently on trial for the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m).
O’Brien’s three-year-old daughter of High Chaparral is currently a $4.60 favourite with TAB in the ALH Group Handicap (2000m), and will need to win on Saturday to secure a trip north.
“She’s a filly that’s shown us a fair amount of promise,” O’Brien said.
“We’ll probably ride her quiet again on Saturday, particularly now that she’s drawn in 13, and hopefully see at the end of the 2000m, ridden quiet, that she can really run it out strongly.
“It was a slowly run race (last start) which meant that she overdid it a bit, and also that she wasn’t able to pick up the leaders that had a pretty easy time in front.
“Hopefully there’s a bit of tempo on Saturday and we can really see her hit the line.”
Story by Daniel Miles appears courtesy of Racing Victoria Limited, click here to view full story